Mobilis Networks Limited, an international software applications company offering mobile wallet and billing solutions for mobile operators, today announced its software services to enable what Mobilis believes to be world firsts for mobile wallets: point-of-sale fingerprint verification for international money transfers to mobile wallets and NFC mobile payments that support any mobile phone.

By deploying Mobilis' mobile wallet services for international remittances, a mobile operator can receive international money transfers directly into their subscribers' mobile wallets through point-of-sale devices located in other countries. For example:

A customer enters a partnering retail outlet in one country to transfer cash into the mobile wallet of someone in another country; The shopkeeper uses a supplied point-of-sale payment device with a biometric fingerprint reader and Mobilis' software; The customer's fingerprint is verified for KYC (Know Your Customer) purposes. The shopkeeper then enters the receiving country, currency, mobile number and amount to send; The device communicates with Mobilis' central server and its international remittance partners, and reports back with the best foreign exchange deal; The customer hands over cash, the transaction is confirmed, and the correct amount is immediately transferred into the receiver's mobile wallet.

The entire transaction, from identity verification to confirmation of transfer, takes less than 30 seconds with funds arriving in the receiving country mobile wallet 3-5 seconds later.

Chris Jones, CEO of Mobilis, said, "Annually hundreds of billions of dollars are sent home by family living and working abroad. Last year over US$20 billion was sent from the USA to Mexico alone. Communities in emerging markets are reliant on these incoming funds. The level of convenience and security provided by our point-of-sale solution for international remittances will have a big impact on the money transfer market."

With the international funds landing instantly in the receiver's mobile wallet, the mobile subscriber can then use their existing phone to pay for goods and services, pay bills, and top-up airtime using "tap-n-pay" NFC (Near Field Communication) at the point-of-sale.

Mobilis' mobile wallet services for NFC are deployed by mobile operators and support any mobile phone. For the mobile sue mobile subscriber to use the NFC service, the mobile operator simply affixes a NFC chip to their mobile phone and registers the subscriber free of charge. If the mobile subscriber has a new NFC smart phone, they can be registered with that too.

Widespread use of mobile phones for retail payments was considered to be a few years away, however with Mobilis' mobile wallet services for NFC, all of a mobile operators' subscribers can make these mobile payments today. The service is not limited to only those who can afford an expensive smart phone with a special chip inside. The mobile subscriber does not even need to have a bank account or credit card.

Jones added, "Our mobile wallet solution is meeting the needs of emerging markets now. It is being used for point-of-sale payment of groceries, airtime and power bills, through to wages and government disbursements."

Mobilis' mobile wallet solutions are currently being rolled out across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.